Sign in

Rain again at Wimbledon

Eternal British hope Tim Henman looked to be in for a long wait for his third round match as the rain fell, forcing a first postponement of play on all courts by one hour.

Published on: Jun 26, 2004, 16:49:00 IST
PTI | By , London
Share
Share via
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
Copy link
  • copy link

The Olympic flame provided the only heat at Wimbledon on Saturday as another rainy front swept through to delay play on all courts.

HT Image
HT Image

Eternal British hope Tim Henman was the main bearer of the flame, which is on its usual world tour en route for the Athens Games in August.

Henman received the symbolic spark from four-minute miler Roger Bannister who lit it on a Centre Court bedecked with umbrellas to shield spectators against the lightly-falling rain.

The 29-year-old Henman was due back on the Centre Court later in the day for his third round match against old rival Hicham Arazi of Morocco.

The number five seed has a 8-3 winning record against the crafty Arazi and will fancy his chances of making it through to the last 16 as the next step in his quest to provide a first British winner of the men's singles at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.

But Henman looked to be in for a long wait as the rain fell, forcing a first postponement of play on all courts by one hour.

The first week was badly hit by rain earlier in the week with Wednesday's total washout the first such since 1999.

Organisers have said there was no cause for panic at the moment and no plans to play on Sunday, a day traditionally kept idle at Wimbledon.

First up on the Centre Court was scheduled to be Roger Federer, the defending champion and No.1 seed who plays former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson of Sweden in a third round tie.

To date, the Swiss maestro has lost just nine games in two matches and has been ever more firmly established as the favourite for the title.

Sandwiched in between the Federer and Henman matches on Centre Court was women's top seed and defending champion Serena Williams in a third round tie against Magui Serna of Spain.

Williams has had little difficulty in her two games to date, but she freely admits that she is still below her best and is relying on brute power rather than artistry to overcome her opponents.

Other top ties see men's second seed Andy Roddick take on American compatriot Taylor Dent in a No.1 Court battle of the big-servers, with France's Amelie Mauresmo, seen as the biggest threat to Serena Williams, going up against Ludmila Cervanova of Slovakia.

Check India news real-time updates, latest news on Hindustan Times and more across India.